Bloom
by seasidevoiceguitar
Summary: Two women meet on an airplane and make a strange discovery. Modern AU. Elsanna. No incest.
1. Anna

The cool Heathrow waiting area afforded Anna a much needed breather. Between nearly missing her morning bus and taking the wrong tube line at King's Cross, her trip home to Arendelle so far was threatening to dismantle her indestructible optimism. The security check wasn't much kinder; she had watched in silent horror as the TSA officer plowed his hands through her violin case, making sure to violate every inch of her prized instrument.

_Hang in there, Joan, _she telepathically communicated to her violin, wincing.

With just under an hour to spare before departure time, Anna arrived at the waiting area for flight 1448 to Arendelle. At last, in the comfort of the decidedly uncomfortable plastic seats, she could relax. While she idly thumbed through the dozens of farewell messages on her phone, her thoughts naturally drifted toward the three years she had spent studying music and living at the University of Cambridge.

Anna couldn't suppress a smile as she reformed her memories of those first few exhilarating weeks on campus. She had slowly shed layer upon layer of trepidation and excitement while coming to terms with the idea that this impossibly picturesque place, with its elegant stone halls and its postcard-perfect lawns and its incredible history and its general, well, _Cambridge-ness_, was somehow her new home. On more than one occasion she would wake up at an ungodly hour of night (one of the perks of jetlag), fearing that she'd find herself still in her bedroom back home and only breathing a sigh of relief when her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she recognized the shape and size of her West Cambridge flat.

Her new English friends had helped her settle in, initially as curious about Anna's exotic home country as she was of theirs, and after the novelty of the whole thing wore off, she found herself completely at ease with her university life.

She had even found love, or something like it. There was Kristoff, a somewhat burly blonde-haired English boy in her music program. They instantly bonded over bad orchestra puns and even worse singing at orientation, and as the months inched by, they found themselves spending less and less time apart. Tragically, Kristoff, for all the bravado he commanded at the requisite beer pong tables, was complete mush when it came to romance and could barely stutter out a confession to her before their last semester together.

"Why did you wait so long to tell me?" Anna had replied, immediately regretting her accusatory tone when she realized she was just as guilty for not acting on her own blossoming feelings. They dated for the rest of the final semester, and Anna, for her part, did her best to block out the nagging reality that she would have to leave all of it behind in a few months.

"Hey, um, they're calling people to board." A voice and a tap on her shoulder startled Anna.

_Ugh, did I fall asleep?_ She blinked drowsily as the airport around her slowly rebuilt itself. When she glanced up toward the voice, she was nothing short of mesmerized.

_Wha-what is this magnificent creature?_ She managed to fumble the words even in her head. Completely oblivious to the errant saliva trail seeping from the corner of her lips, Anna slowly registered the woman standing before her, dressed in a simple white blouse and black dress pants. She was drawn to the woman's eyes first, elusive and a cool azure blue, before noticing her exquisite platinum blonde hair ending in a braid draped over her shoulder. Then there was that complexion that looked like it was a blend of pink roses and cream. She was easily the most beautiful person Anna had ever been in the presence of.

"Good morning?" Anna offered dumbly. When she finally caught up with the present she immediately flushed. "Oh! Um, I mean thanks for waking me up."

"You've got a bit of, uh…" expressionless, the woman pointed to her own lips before walking away toward the queue to board the plane. The redhead, now acutely aware of the drool dribbling down her chin, felt her face burn even harder as she rushed to clean it with her sleeve. Anna could almost hear her ancestors beckoning her to join them in the afterlife.

_Stay calm Anna, you're going to be okay. You're probably never going to see that (gorgeous) woman ever again._

That piece of wishful thinking was swiftly shattered when she found the blonde already seated next to the window in her row.

"Hey, what a coincidence, heh." _'Heh,' Anna? 'Heh?'_ "Sooo, looks like we're stuck with each other for the next eight hours. Oh, not that I mind being stuck with you, of course! More like you're stuck with me." She silently cursed herself for her awkwardness as she hoisted her violin case into the overhead compartment.

"I'm Anna by the way," she introduced herself, extending her right hand to the other girl, who seemed to be trying her best to keep up. "Er, don't worry I didn't get any drool on it."

The blonde blinked a few times with a blank expression on her face before accepting the handshake. "Elsa… and, um, you're blocking the aisle."

Anna noticed a growing line of people to her right and promptly took her seat, sensing that familiar heat taking over her cheeks. She was sure that somewhere else in the vast universe, in some uncharted nebula, a new star was being born, completely indifferent to Anna's minor blunders here on planet Earth, and that knowledge gave her comfort. She stole a glance at her new flying partner, feeling that comfort leave her almost as quickly as it came. Elsa was like royalty; there seemed to be no waste or frivolity in the way she carried herself.

_She must think I'm a complete dunce._

"I really like your hair, by the way," Anna blurted, trying to redeem herself.

"Um… thanks," Elsa said quietly, without turning her head. Anna didn't know if her eyes were deceiving her or if Elsa's cheeks were actually turning slightly pink. The plane's poorly-lit cabin left that bit of ambiguity up for interpretation, but the mere possibility sent electricity down her spine. Then it hit her that Elsa didn't have an English accent when she'd spoken.

"Hey, you're not from around here are you?" the redhead asked. _Great work as usual, Anna – expertly inquired with the tact of a glazed donut_.

"Oh, I was just here for a conference. I live in Arendelle." A curt reply. Elsa seemed content to let the conversation end there, and for a few moments afterward, Anna became painfully aware of the cold cabin air on her skin. Then, to her surprise, Elsa returned the question. "What about you?"

"Oh me too! Kind of. I used to live in Corona, actually, but my parents moved to Arendelle a couple months ago while I was still studying here, so I'm going to be completely lost when I get back."

"Studying?"

"Yeah, I was taking a 3-year music course at Cambridge, which, if you've never been, is the most beautiful place on Earth," Anna boasted.

Elsa shook her head to say no, she hadn't ever been. "So, you play the violin?" she asked, looking slightly more interested now.

"Yep! I've been playing since I was, like, six. You know, parents who wished they could play an instrument trying to live vicariously through their kids, heh." _'Heh' again? _"Don't get me wrong – I'm really grateful to them for getting me into music. I mean, I'd probably take a bullet for my violin."

"Because violins are getting assassinated left and right these days," Elsa quipped flatly.

Anna giggled. _Behold, a sense of humor!_

"So, what about you?" she started, turning her whole body over to face the blonde so that she was now kneeling on the seat. "What do you do? Wait- don't tell me! I'm really good at guessing."

"Okay."

"Lawyer! I know a lawyer when I see one. My cousin's a lawyer. Alright, now you owe me twenty bucks."

"No."

"Whaaaat? Okay, doctor then."

"No, and I don't remember making any b-"

"Sh-sh, you're breaking my focus." Anna put her fingers to her temples and shut her eyes for a moment, channeling the prophets and psychics of a time since long forgotten. She opened them again. "Marine biologist specializing in manatees."

"…No."

"Really? But they're so cute…" Anna pouted. A flight attendant walked over to ask her to sit properly and to put her seat belt on.

"I'm a librarian," Elsa answered when they were alone again.

"A librarian, huh? I think I was pretty close," Anna maintained unconvincingly. The pilot then made a brief announcement before the plane started to move, and using that as their cue, the flight attendants began performing their award-winning safety routine. Meanwhile, Anna was trying to picture this woman, who seemed to be so detached from the world inhabited by mortals, stamping books from behind a counter and found the idea so quaint that she decided she needed to see it with her own eyes.

"Maybe I'll stop by the library sometime."

Elsa's eyes widened slightly at that suggestion.

"If I can find it, that is." Anna finished.

"Well, um…" Elsa hesitated slightly, then cleared her throat. "If you need someone to show you around after you settle in, Arendelle's a pretty small city so… I wouldn't mind, um, helping you out." A shy smile capped the offer.

_Oh god, _Anna thought. _There needs to be some kind of government funded program just to make this girl smile._

* * *

**I'm going to keep these notes to a minimum. All I will say is, this is going to be pretty ambitious for my first piece of fictional writing ever, so if it ends up being garbage, that is why.**

**A big thanks to GhostofWintersPast for beta reading for me!**


	2. Elsa

Elsa was malfunctioning. Less than twenty minutes into the flight and she had spoken more with one person than she had all week at the conference in Bath. Not that she wasn't interested in emerging library technology and developing global circulation platforms (okay, so she napped through most of the talks) – she'd taken the trip to England hoping to change her life for the better. Perhaps there, halfway around the world, she would discover a different, more sociable and less timid version of herself. Surely the romantic landscape of Bath would be the perfect stage for her transformation, and she had clicked through the travel site with that resolve.

As she stepped through the front doors of the university reception hall to face the crowded room, however, her resolve rapidly melted. The familiar insecurities and anxieties of human interaction bubbled to the surface of her skin in an uncomfortable sweat. How could she have been so grossly shortsighted to think change would come so easily? By the end of the conference a few days later, Elsa was more than eager to return to the comfort and solitude of her apartment in downtown Arendelle.

And now she'd just finished volunteering herself as a tour guide to someone she met less than an hour ago. She was definitely breaking, and this excitable redhead was armed with a baseball bat. It didn't help that Elsa caught herself staring on more than one occasion into those warm teal eyes, ensnared like a moth by their radiance.

Anna was… magnetic.

They had been in the air for an hour when Anna, who was recounting the perennial adventures of Kristoff the Indiscreet, suggested that they watch a movie together.

"Hey, this one sounds really scary. What do you think?"

Elsa glanced at Anna's screen to see what had caught her attention. It was a film evocatively titled _The Thing_.

"I'm… really bad with scary movies," Elsa admitted somewhat predictably. What manner of horrors could be so unspeakable that even with the incredible depth of vocabulary at their disposal, humanity had been reduced to the pitiful state of simply dubbing it "The Thing?" She didn't care to find out.

"Oh, we're definitely watching this one then," Anna teased, using the thought of Elsa whimpering in fear as fuel for some decidedly sinister fantasy.

"No!" A look of genuine panic was plastered across Elsa's face.

_This is bad. I'm actually a terrible person, aren't I? _Anna considered.

"Fine, fine. Ooh what about a foreign film? I've been meaning to brush up on my French."

"You can speak French?"

"Ehm," the redhead gave Elsa a seductive look. "Tu es la femme de mes rêves."

This time, Anna could clearly see the flush on Elsa's face, and she suddenly felt a strong desire to embrace the blonde.

"Hon hon hon, j'aime des vaches," she continued, apparently now insane. "Oh, this movie looks cute. And it's in French!"

Elsa was still recovering from Anna's sudden "confession." She was sure her heartbeat was registering on the Richter scale, but she couldn't quite comprehend why. _What is wrong with me? Actually, what is wrong with her? How can she say things like… that so nonchalantly? Why is she still talking to someone as boring and quiet as I am? Why is her French accent so horrible?_

And so, preoccupied by the uncertainties within her heart, Elsa ended up blindly agreeing to watch the film Anna had selected, _Blue is the Warmest Color_.

That was a mistake.

_Maybe I should have read the synopsis_. _This is a little… hot. _These were Anna's thoughts as she watched two women sharing a particularly intimate and very graphic moment on the tiny screen in front of her. _Seriously, how long is this scene going to go on?_ She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, warmth consuming her body. It was definitely weird to watch this with someone else sitting right beside her, and doubly so when that someone is a very attractive woman. _I wonder how Elsa's handling this_.

She turned to find Elsa clutching her miniature pillow to her chest with both arms. Her face half buried in the blue pillow case, and her gaze decidedly not pointed at the screen, she was a sight to behold.

_Oh my god, this girl – can I keep her?_

Anna wondered how sheltered Elsa's life must have been that she couldn't even watch a sex scene. Granted, this was a particularly intense sex scene (between two women, no less), but Elsa seemed overly reserved just the same. It was just hard to reconcile the image of this woman with the one that had conveyed such aloofness earlier.

_It's a miracle that I haven't scared her off yet with my craziness._

When the film was finally over, the flight attendants were preparing to serve the in-flight meal. Anna was intrigued when she saw that Elsa had ordered the vegetarian option.

"I didn't know you were a vegetarian."

"Well… I didn't know you condoned the murder of innocent little animals," Elsa retorted, surprised at her own boldness. When she saw Anna flinch, she instantly regretted her choice of words. "Sorry, that was supposed to be a joke. Really, I don't mind."

Despite Elsa's reassurances, Anna's own chicken pasta was suddenly looking less appealing. Still, it was relieving that the blonde seemed to be opening up a little.

"Well now you have to make it up to me for ruining my appetite." Anna surveyed Elsa's plate. "I am commandeering your brownie."

"What- no!" Elsa quickly took the dessert into her custody. "You can have anything else…"

"It's okay, it's okay," Anna yielded, secretly relishing Elsa's adorable reaction. "I was joking too. What kind of a monster would I be if I deprived someone of their chocolate?"

"I still feel a little bad. I usually try not to make a big deal out of being vegetarian." Elsa was looking dejected.

_Quick, salvage the situation Anna._

"I think it's kind of sexy." _Wow, did I just say that?_ "Um, I mean, you know, in a non-sexy way. Wait, that doesn't make sense. I mean, you're definitely sexy. But I don't mean- I'm not- um, I'll just be taking my vow of silence now."

Elsa didn't know whether she should be laughing or blushing, but both ended up happening anyway. Maybe breaking wasn't such a bad thing after all.

"So, tell me about Arendelle," Anna asked once she was at peace again.

"Oh, um, I don't know if it's really any different from most other places. There are a lot of famous restaurants downtown that I haven't tried yet." Elsa thought for a moment. "But we do have the ancient castle ruins outside the main city. It's really beautiful there in the summer."

"Hey, I know those ruins; that's why my parents moved there," Anna explained. "They're both archaeologists, so I guess that kind of thing is like a gold mine to them. You should totally meet them! They're lovely people, and they probably don't have many friends in Arendelle yet."

_Me neither,_ Elsa thought. "I'd like that a lot… but we haven't even gone on a date yet." The joke was somewhat ruined by her awkward delivery, yet Anna found it all the more endearing.

"But I've already picked out the font for the wedding invitations!" she countered wildly, running her hands through her own hair in mock exasperation. This time, they both laughed.

Once the flight attendants collected their plates, Anna could feel fatigue settling in, and she announced her imminent nap to an equally exhausted Elsa. As the two drifted off to sleep, Elsa was interrupted briefly by Anna's head unconsciously resting on her shoulder, but she was too far gone to fully register it.

* * *

There is a certain unquantifiable emotion that accompanies the act of stepping off a plane onto unfamiliar land. It often starts in the stomach, like many feelings do, and as the anticipation ripens and the heart beats faster, it begins to gather in the chest like rising bubbles. And then it dies immediately once the person realizes they still have to get through customs.

"Ugh, that line was horrible," Anna grumbled to Elsa. They were waiting in the baggage claim area.

"Yeah, I really needed to use the bathroom, too," Elsa sympathized. "Actually I think I see one over there. I'll be right back."

"Sure."

As she watched the other girl rush to the women's room, Anna remembered her phone was still off from the flight and promptly pulled it out.

_What the- 10 voice messages from Rapunzel? And what's this other number?_

Meanwhile, Elsa was dancing with the idea that perhaps the trip wasn't a waste of time after all. She felt lighter than she had in years, like someone had finally told her that in fact the rest of the world had been waiting for her to join them all this time. That someone was a college graduate she had met at an airport. _Don't screw this up, Elsa. _She checked her hair twice in the mirror. _Don't let her realize how uninteresting you are. No, that's not it… just… try to be friends with her._

Returning to the luggage carousel, she couldn't find Anna in the spot where she'd left her. She panicked for a moment before noticing Anna sitting in the far corner of the room, head buried in her knees, curiously without any of her luggage._ Is she still tired?_ That didn't really make any sense. Elsa started toward Anna at a brisk pace, and as she got closer, a sinking feeling overcame her.

Anna was crying.

And she was on the phone.

"I have to go," Elsa heard Anna mutter shakily.

"Anna, hey, what's wrong?" She knelt down and hesitantly put a hand on the redhead's shoulder.

There was no answer. Minutes passed while Anna wept without reservation, head unmoving except for in small trembles.

And then, at last, "There… was… a… a… car… accident and…"

Elsa could see the revelation coming at her like a truck travelling at full speed, headlights blinding, but she couldn't move or speak.

"My… parents… they… they…"

_Don't finish that sentence._

"They're… dead."


	3. Red, Blue, and Yellow

Where does darkness come from?

Perhaps it is born under stones, jagged and mossy, lying dormant in the deep forest until someone kicks them over by chance on an afternoon hike, distracted by the humidity and heat of midsummer.

Maybe it comes through the tap of a garden hose, like an arm reaching from the bottom of the ocean, when a young boy drowns a colony of ants in his front yard.

Is it the shadow cast by the gavel as a woman is sentenced to death for the murder of her two children?

Or does it snake through the veins of an aging man, driving home from the bar after being laid off from his job of seventeen years?

Why must it exist at all?

_Why? Why did this have to happen to her? Why Anna?_

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Anna." Elsa wrapped her arms around the grieving girl. "I'm so sorry. I'm so…"

She was sure if she could see Anna's face at that moment, her heart would break even more.

_You were so… happy._

"It's… a lie right?" Anna spoke erratically through the tears. "They have to be… alive. I need to go… see them." She couldn't move. "What am I… supposed to do? What do I do? I have… no one now."

Elsa tightened her embrace.

"No," she said gently. _You have me. _Why couldn't she say it? _What do I have to give her? She's known me for less than a day._

_But she needs someone._

They stayed like that for a while, neither aware of the passing time. Strangers would walk by without stopping, like inhabitants of a less tragic universe. By the time Anna was calm again, the luggage carousel had long since stopped moving.

"I need to go to the hospital." Her voice was weak and frayed, betraying none of the Anna from when they first met. "I need to see them."

"Okay, I'll pay for a cab." Elsa intended to stay with her at least until she was with family again. Anna's cousin on her mother's side, Rapunzel, was taking a train the following morning with her aunt and uncle, and her grandparents were flying in the day after. Her father had been an only child, so this gathering would be for all the remaining members of Anna Berthold's known family.

She broke down again in the taxi.

"I should've gotten a taxi. They were… they were coming to pick me up."

"Anna-"

"This wouldn't have happened if…"

"Anna, don't do this to yourself," Elsa pleaded. "This isn't your fault." It was the drunk bastard in the other car. He had been killed instantly in the crash.

_And what justice can one get from a dead man? _The thought resonated like the punchline of some miserable joke.

Elsa felt the next two hours slip by in a blur. She sat in the hospital waiting room while Anna was escorted to the morgue, and it pained her to think what the girl would be going through when she saw her parents lying cold on their steel beds. Instead, she let herself be anesthetized by the fluorescent lights. In her hypnotized state, it was as if the room were still dark, the illusion of light merely a trick played by tired synapses.

When Anna returned, she seemed drained. Even though she had been given the keys to her parents' house, she couldn't find the strength yet to enter that place, to spend the night there alone, so Elsa offered her own apartment just a few blocks away.

* * *

"So, um, this is my place," Elsa stated, breathless from carrying suitcases up three flights of stairs, as the lights flickered on.

The first thing Anna noticed was how little there was to notice. The living room that greeted them from the entrance was bare and minimalist, with one blue fabric couch, a flat-screen television, and a small black wooden coffee table as the only furnishings against solid white walls. _We need to get this girl to an IKEA, _she thought.

"I… like it. Very, uh, De Stijl. I can clearly see the influences of Mondrian here." Anna would've been lying if she didn't admit that, despite all that had happened to her that day, she wasn't a bit excited to see what Elsa's apartment would be like. Looking back, she probably should have expected something like this.

Elsa suddenly felt self-conscious. "You can unpack anywhere you want, and, um, if you want to sleep in my bed, that would be fine too."

"How scandalous."

Elsa blushed at the unintentional ambiguity in her offer. "Oh no! I didn't mean-"

"It's okay, I got it," Anna chuckled weakly. "But the couch is fine for me."

As Anna set her suitcases down, Elsa walked over to the kitchen and noticed two notes on the refrigerator door.

_Hope you enjoyed your trip! Tell me all about it when you get back. – Merida_

_P.S. And girl, we need to get your ass to IKEA._

And below that:

_Welcome home master! – Olaf_

There was a crudely drawn paw print next to "Olaf." As if on cue, Elsa felt a gentle nuzzling at her legs.

"Hey sweetie." She reached down and picked up the orange tabby, planting a kiss on its cheek. "I missed you."

"Aw, he's cute." Anna had joined her in the kitchen, momentarily distracted from her sadness by the adorable display before her. Then she saw the notes, a smile forming on her face as she read them. "And who's Merida?"

"Oh, she's my neighbor." Elsa set the cat back down. "I asked her to take care of Olaf while I was out."

"That's nice that you're close with your neighbor."

Elsa winced slightly. "I'm not… really close with her. I hardly see her most of the time." She knew it was her own shortcomings that prevented her from connecting with Merida; she had been invited by the Scot on more than one evening to hit the bars, but Elsa could only decline, citing some weak excuse each time. "Do you, um, want anything to drink? I have hot chocolate and milk. Or there's always the… water."

"You had me at hot chocolate."

It was a little strange, sitting on the couch drinking hot chocolate in early June, but it was somehow the only logical choice for both of them.

And then it started coming back to Anna, how her family had always shared a cup of spiced cocoa on New Year's morning while making their resolutions.

"I'm gonna marry a manatee!" she had proudly declared at the age of 7, but alas, the world being the way it was, she was unable to keep that particular resolution. They managed to continue the tradition over Skype when she was in England, and Anna had even lassoed Kristoff into these and other such rituals.

"You know, your parents are probably having crazy amounts of sex with you out of the house," the boy had hypothesized after the first of these calls, which earned him a violent elbow jab from Anna.

_That was, what, two years ago already? _She realized she was crying again. _I'm a fucking mess._

"Sorry, I'm… the last thing anyone could want in their life right now."

"It's okay," Elsa reassured her.

"You've done so much for me," Anna continued, sniffling. "And we only just met today. Why are you such a good person?"

"I'm not really-"

"Yes you are. And I will personally ruin anyone who says otherwise, you included."

Elsa felt warmth infect her body, and she fell into silence, formless thoughts hanging over her head like the fruits of a strange tree.

A phone call stirred their standstill.

"It's Rapunzel," Anna read off her phone's screen.

Elsa nodded, brought a spare pillow and blanket out to the living room, and then retreated for her own room to give Anna some space. Her bedroom was small, just large enough to accommodate a queen-sized bed, a desk, and a small oak bookshelf. Strewn across her bed were a happy tomato plush toy, a few cotton pillows, and Elsa. It wasn't long before Olaf joined her.

"Hey Olaf," she mumbled sleepily. "What does De Stijl mean?"

The cat just yawned. Then, she drifted off, too exhausted to reflect on the day's events.

* * *

**Thank you to the readers who stopped by and/or left kind messages; it was quite honestly more than I was expecting. I kind of rushed this chapter out, but hopefully it makes at least a little sense. The story has been outlined pretty much in its entirety so it's just a matter of fleshing it out now with... flesh.**


	4. Fratres

"Anna, we're leaving in an hour," a giant floating fetus called out to her.

_Are you sure you can't stay? I'll miss you giant floating fetus._

"And my dad made pancakes."

_Oh you know me too well. Pancakes are my favorite member of the circles food group. Wait, what?_

Anna slowly blinked her eyes open as light poured into her field of vision. This was her room, or it had been for the last two weeks. She recognized her bed sheets, the worn-out wooden desk, the painting of a manatee in a monocle and top hat, but the shape of the room was still new to her. For starters, it was much larger than the one in Corona, but there was also a certain peculiarity in the way the ceiling tapered off at one end to accommodate the roof. Living in the attic made her feel like she was a 19th century house servant or perhaps some lingering poltergeist.

Surveying her surroundings, it soon dawned on her that the voice from her dream earlier had belonged to Rapunzel.

_They're leaving soon._

She leapt out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to make herself presentable.

"The prodigal daughter awakens," her aunt Primrose cheerfully greeted her as she barreled into the kitchen.

"Morning Aunt Rose, Uncle Tom, Rapunzel."

"Didn't we agree that using that name was banned?" Thomas bemoaned his unfortunate moniker.

"What about 'the artist formerly known as Uncle Tom?'" Rapunzel offered, to her father's chagrin. Then, giving her cousin a warm hug, "Morning Anna, sleep well?"

"Yeah, weird dream though." Anna took her place at the breakfast table and was pleased to see that the oft-maligned peanut butter was included among the possible toppings for her pancakes.

"Did it, perchance, have anything to do with watching _2001_ last night?"

"Mayhap it did. You were a floating baby, if that gives you any comfort."

"Classic film," Thomas stated unhelpfully.

Anna was amazed at how strong this family was. The senseless accident that robbed them of two of the most important people in their lives was just over two weeks ago, and yet here they were, Rapunzel, Aunt Rose, the artist formerly known as Uncle Tom, trying their best to keep each other's spirits up. She knew the pain must have carved into them incredibly deep, at least as deep as it had for her, but it was as if they just collectively decided that grieving endlessly would only damage them more.

After breakfast, Rapunzel took Anna aside into the hallway.

"So, how are you doing?"

"I'm… okay." Anna was hesitant to confront her own emotions so early in the day. "What about you? What about your parents?"

"I think mom's trying to stay positive for the both of them, but it's really hard for her, too. Dad was going through your mom's old treasure collection last night, and he found this toy ring that he had given to her when they were kids. Apparently he thought they were going to get married."

"Aw," Anna felt her eyes tearing up. _Why is sibling love cute when you're a kid, but weird when you grow up?_

"And me, I don't know," Rapunzel sighed. "I have to go back to work tomorrow so I can't really afford to be bogged down by this. I feel so fucking awful about it, pardon my Arendellian."

"Pardoned."

"Look, Anna, are you sure you don't want to come back with us? I know my parents would have you over for as long as you needed, and I would too. And your friends back home are probably worried sick about you."

"Thanks Punze, but I'll be okay. And I've been talking to my friends. I just… need to be here right now. I need to take care of things on this side, I guess."

Truthfully, Anna didn't really know whether she would be okay. Between the funeral, talking to the family attorney and the insurance company, she felt as though her parents' death had been abstracted. Was this how people coped with loss, by making the intangible tangible, by approaching everything from a practical angle? This wasn't for her.

She wasn't even able to bring herself to enter her parents' bedroom.

When Rapunzel and her family left later that morning, Anna was alone in very large and empty house. Her grandparents had already flown back to the West Country the previous week for health reasons. Sighing, she returned to her attic room and pulled out her violin case from underneath the bed.

"Help me out here, Joan."

She lifted the violin from the felt case, set it at her chin and began tuning her strings. This was her sanctuary, a private engagement with Chopin, Pärt, Stravinsky, and Bach. She confided in them with her beloved violin as a mediator. As the bow touched the coiled steel strings, Anna, eyes closed, would be transported to Russia in the early 1900s, or Romantic era Paris, or Estonia – anywhere but here. Rosin dust would fly out from where she bowed, settling on the varnished maple wood.

When she finally put her violin back down, returning to her stuffy room in Arendelle, Anna could feel wetness in her eyes.

_I really need to get out before someone (definitely not me) starts crying again_.

Wanderlust seizing her, her thoughts turned toward a certain blonde she had spent the day with two weeks earlier. She had been a little disheartened that Elsa never made an appearance at the funeral, which in retrospect seemed perfectly reasonable; who would actively want to go to the funeral of a complete stranger? Neither had made any attempt at contact since then, but Anna was compelled by a distinct burning in her chest to seek out the other girl's company. In fact, at that particular moment, there was no one she wanted to see more than Elsa.

Besides being generally adorable, Elsa was more than anything else a mystery to Anna, one that had stayed with her throughout that traumatic experience; one that also happened to be beautiful without peer. Anna wanted to know her, to catalog the small details of Elsa's life that she seemed so content to keep hidden from the world. Perhaps content was the wrong word; her reserve hinted at a profound loneliness that Anna was just beginning to empathize with.

She quickly started up her computer to look up directions to the Arendelle public library and was delighted to find it was only a 5-minute drive away.

* * *

_Oh god, what do I say to her? I haven't seen her in two weeks. And I shouldn't have worn this weird shirt._

The shirt in question was bright green and featured a slam-dunking Mohandas Gandhi. Now that she was here in the library's parking lot, the prospect of seeing Elsa in her natural habitat was both more thrilling and nerve-wracking than she had originally envisioned. Anna suddenly realized that she might have made a grave miscalculation coming here as one particular possibility she had overlooked dawned upon her.

_What if Elsa's wearing glasses? I don't think my heart is ready for that._

Bracing herself, Anna got out of the car and started toward the old-fashioned brick building. Inside, the library was, despite its outward appearance, very modern looking, as if it had been recently renovated. The bookshelves were organized like massive wooden dominoes, and the overall ambience was warm and inviting. She could easily spend the day in there.

Her mood fell when she didn't see Elsa behind any of the check-out counters, but she was determined to locate her at all costs. She approached one of the librarians who wasn't currently helping anyone.

"Excuse me, is Elsa… um, just Elsa… is she here today?" Anna mentally face-palmed. _How do you not know her last name?_

"Elsa? Yeah, she's doing the summer reading camp for kids. It's just upstairs in the children's corner. She's probably in the middle of reading, though."

"Thank you so much." Anna set out for the stairs, feeling a faint stirring in her stomach. When she reached the second floor, she could already hear a gentle voice – Elsa. Weaving between the bookshelves, she was drawn to the source like a sailor to the sirens' song, and before long, the children's corner came into view.

There was the blonde (not wearing glasses, Anna noted), sitting in a wooden chair and reading to a group of twenty or so children. They must've been between the ages of 8 and 10. The book was _Redwall_, a well-known children's cookbook masquerading as an adventure novel about unreasonably violent rodents.

_Wow, she's really getting into the voices._

Elsa's face would scrunch up into a scowl when reading a villain's lines, switching to a determined, noble look when voicing a hero's. The kids were eating it up, too, apparent from the way they were transfixed to her.

Then, an idea formed in Anna's mind. She gingerly walked to where the kids were sitting on the rug, found a spot between two of them, and plopped her butt down.

When Elsa noticed a few moments later (despite how well Anna was camouflaged), a look of shock instantly replaced whatever was previously on her face. Her reading slowed to a crawl, individual syllables lasting several seconds, before it stopped altogether, and the kids began to look confused. Seeing this, she blushed furiously, then cleared her throat, quickly regaining what was left her composure. She began to read properly again, throwing a strange look toward Anna every so often.

"Is she your girlfriend?" one curious little girl had asked when Elsa reluctantly relinquished command over her army of children a half-hour later. She was pointing toward where the redhead was still obediently seated.

"W-w-what?!" Elsa responded, clearly knocked off-kilter.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." The girl flashed an innocent smile. "She's a keeper."

"Um, thanks April, but she's not-"

"See you tomorrow Ms. Elsa!" She was gone before Elsa could set the record straight.

"Was that girl talking smack about me?" the aforementioned girlfriend called out.

"Anna," Elsa walked over and helped her to her feet. "I don't think you're quite at this reading level yet."

"Call me an overachiever. Besides, you're the one doing the reading."

"Fair point. Um, let me get my stuff, and I can take my lunch break."

Elsa took them to a small café and restaurant-by-night called Chez Sven just a block down from the library. She ordered an eggplant parmesan pasta while Anna, recalling Elsa's distaste for meat, had a Gorgonzola pear baguette with sweet potato fries.

_We are some posh motherfuckers_, Anna mused.

"I'm really sorry I didn't go to the funeral," Elsa started quietly. "I… didn't think it would be right."

"It's okay. You probably wouldn't have liked it anyway." Anna wanted desperately to lighten the mood. "I kept trying to get Rapunzel to spring for a moon bounce, but she said it wasn't within our budget."

Elsa tried to stifle a laugh. "I can't tell if that's a joke, coming from you."

"Hey!" Anna faked indignation. "Oh, before I forget. What's your last name? I kind of made myself look like an idiot earlier because I didn't know."

"It's Erelund," the blonde seemed to retreat into herself as she said it.

"That's… really beautiful." Anna played the name, Elsa Erelund, a few times in her head, enjoying the way it alliterated. It seemed to come from an ancient era.

When their food arrived, she primed herself for the question she had wanted to ask since the day they met.

"Hey, Elsa, this is going to sound weird, but, um, do you mind if we did this every day? Not necessarily this, but like hanging out. Maybe after work or something; whenever's good for you." _That could not have come out more awkwardly._

Elsa was stunned into silence for a moment, and then a few more moments following that. Then, she looked down at her pasta and poked at it with her fork.

"I… don't mind."

Fireworks were going off in Anna's brain as she barely heard the words float out from Elsa's mouth. This wasn't a dream, right? Trying to contain herself, she took a bite out of her sandwich. _Ugh, guess I'm not a fan of Gorgonzola._


	5. Seed

Elsa placed three knocks on the door, and then waited. Her hands were clutching each other like a pair of vises in heat, only relaxing when Merida answered the door moments later.

"Elsa, you're lucky I was just in the kitchen because those were like the softest knocks I've ever heard in my long and storied life."

"But… you look younger than me." Elsa was beginning to worry that perhaps, at the ripe age of 27, she was already considered an antique by the general public.

"That's only thanks to a regimented diet of virgin's blood. Anyway, what can I do for ye, Ms. Erelund?" Merida was genuinely curious as to what prompted this rare visit.

"Um, I'm sorry for asking things of you all the time, but-"

"Are you kidding? You've asked me for a total of one favor, which you've already paid me back for, with interest." She was referring to the two small, but beautifully rendered, paintings of the Roman baths that Elsa had brought back from England as a souvenir gift. Merida couldn't accept such a lavish present at first, but Elsa insisted they weren't more than 40 pounds sterling each. "Now come in and tell me what this is about."

Stepping inside Merida's apartment was a surreal experience; it was nearly identical in layout to Elsa's, but the differences in furniture and decoration (and indeed there was a lot more of it here) imparted a strange atmosphere. It felt like walking home one day only to discover someone else had moved in and set up shop.

"So," Elsa started once they were settled on the white leather couch. "What do people normally do together?"

"Ah, yes. The age old question, 'What do people normally do together?' I know exactly what you mean." When Merida saw the hopeful look blooming on Elsa's face, she made a mental note to veto any future attempts at sarcasm. "No, seriously, you've got to give me some specifics here. Are we talking a friend, a lover, a relative, a historical figure…"

Elsa started blushing at the mention of "lover." This did not pass under the Scot's radar.

"What- no way," Merida continued, manifestly excited. "You've got a love interest? Who's the lucky guy?"

"It's a she, and she's not-" the blonde couldn't shake the feeling that she had tried to make this clarification before.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to assume. And I'm supposed to be the sensitive one. So, who's the lucky girl?"

"She's just a friend!"

This was the first time Merida had seen Elsa get exasperated or, for that matter, exhibit any emotion other than shyness.

"Right," she responded warily. "Just a friend. Okay, so what's she like?"

"Um." Elsa took a moment to gather the relevant scraps floating around in her head. _What isn't she like? _"She plays the violin, and, um, her hair is orange-brownish. I think she had a boyfriend back in England."

She felt a needle lightly prick her chest as she revealed that detail.

"She's kind of weird, but… I don't know, I feel like I can be myself around her… in ways that even I didn't know about. Like I can make jokes, or try to anyway. She's just a really cheerful person… but her parents – she lost them in a car accident recently, and it was so... horrible. She just moved here too, so she doesn't know anyone yet, and I want to do something for her. But I'm… I don't know what to do."

A small part of Merida was wounded by the confession. For all of her efforts spent trying to pull Elsa out of her cocoon, she had never once truly succeeded, and now here she was, outdone by someone she didn't even know the name of. _Maybe I've been going at this all wrong_, she thought bitterly. However, these grievances soon gave way to concern for her neighbor who had clearly come to her out of desperation.

"Oh Elsa, I'm so sorry, dear. She sounds like a sweetheart."

Elsa nodded. "She, um, asked if we could hang out more."

"Alright, let's start with the easy stuff then. Shopping's always nice to take your mind off things. Movies, ehm, hit or miss I've found."

_Shopping… I do need a new belt, _Elsa considered that option for a moment, then remembered a conversation she and Anna had on the plane. "I was thinking of taking her to the castle ruins sometime."

"Oh, that would be exquisite, and quite romantic this time of year." Merida gave Elsa a provocative look, which was largely ignored. "Also, didn't you play the piano?"

"I haven't touched a piano in years," the blonde said quietly. _Not since I left that house._

"Well it's never too late to pick it back up, eh?" Merida proposed, not noticing the subtle change in Elsa's tone.

They continued to brainstorm ideas, mostly romantic date suggestions, until Merida realized the clock had already read 7:22 PM.

"Shite, I'm supposed to meet my friends for dinner in like 10 minutes. Listen, Elsa, I know most of my ideas were kind of dumb, but I guess the one thing you should remember is if she likes you, she'll probably be happy doing anything with you, aside from water torture."

"Thanks Merida, for listening to me… and for helping. I'll, um, catch up with you later then," Elsa said as she got up to leave.

"Yep, let me know how it goes."

* * *

_Maybe I should have something to eat as well._

Elsa, back in her own kitchen, could hear her stomach's formal request for food in the form of a light growl. She reviewed her options in the freezer, a few microwave meals and some cookie dough ice cream, and decided it would probably be better to order in some Chinese takeout.

Once she'd placed her order over the phone, she closed it and set it down on the kitchen counter. A lot had happened in just a few hours of daylight, and now that the sun was setting, giving Elsa a few moments to collect her thoughts, her mind inevitably wandered back to the redhead. _Anna... what are you doing right now? _Opening her phone again, she flipped through it and found the number Anna gave her earlier sitting in the address book. _Okay, start with the easy stuff. _

_"Hey,"_ she typed into the message box and hit send. It didn't take long for a reply to come back.

_"Hey Elsa!"_

She wasn't ready for an almost instantaneous response, and it took a little more self-encouragement to type out a follow-up.

_"What are you up to?"_

_"Just watching some garbage reality TV."_

Elsa smiled as she pictured the redhead getting excited over how little some family spent on groceries each month thanks to unhealthily aggressive coupon usage.

_"What about those books I recommended you?"_

_"Oh, um, that was an anagram for 'I'm reading some Murakami.'"_

She couldn't help but giggle at that. Then, she took a deep breath before continuing.

_"How did I not notice? So, are you busy tomorrow?"_

_"No ma'am. Did you have something in mind?"_

_"I'm going to go shopping for a bit after work, so I could show you around the mall if you want."_

_"Ooh a shopping date! My body is ready."_

_"Great. I get off at 4."_

_"See you then!"_

The freezer rumbled as fresh cubes were deposited into the ice machine. Elsa realized she wasn't hungry anymore.

* * *

"Okay, can we please go to Rainforest Café? I haven't been since I was 11." Anna, dressed in another green shirt and denim shorts, was studying the mall directory with relish.

"Only if you kidnap some kids to eat with us so we don't look like weirdoes," Elsa stipulated, self-conscious of the idea of two grown women enjoying a meal at a jungle themed restaurant complete with suspiciously cheerful frogs and headless zebra stools.

"Is it just me or have you gotten kind of sassy lately?" Anna looked amused. "I like it."

Feeling a blush coming on, Elsa quickly changed the subject. "Just tell me when you find H&M on there. I think it's on the second floor."

After confirming that it was indeed on the second floor, they made their way to the budget clothing outlet, passing by at least three distinct coffee shops in the process. Once inside the store, Anna seemed less interested in looking for outfits for herself than in curating Elsa's next fashion makeover, or at least as much of one that H&M's selection allowed.

"I'm mostly just looking for a belt," the blonde insisted, her words falling on deaf ears as the redhead piled shirts on top of pants on top of skirts in her arms. As soon as they reached a critical mass, Elsa was sent to the dressing rooms to try them on. Anna particularly liked a combination involving a white ruffled blouse and a red and yellow patterned skirt, but she conceded that pants were probably more suitable for a library setting. Regardless, it seemed like no matter what Elsa tried on, she would come out of the dressing room looking like the outfit was designed specifically for her, and Anna didn't know whether to attribute it to her own improvised fashion sense or blonde's natural beauty.

"Um, Anna," Elsa's head was poking out from behind the curtain. "I can't get this off."

"Oh, er, okay, let me take a look." The redhead joined Elsa in the dressing room where she was, thankfully, still fully clothed.

"It's this belt. The strap won't loosen." Elsa pointed at the offending article.

Anna was now kneeling trying to study the convoluted mechanism that held the two ends together, and Elsa was suddenly very uncomfortable. The redhead's face was dangerously to her waist, and she showed no sign of backing away.

"Oh Elsa, you silly." Anna, entirely oblivious to the blonde's plight, seemed pretty sure that she had the solution. "You just have to pull on this clasp right here and- wait... um, I think the clasp is broken."

_What? This was a really bad idea. _Elsa's heart rate was going through the proverbial roof thanks to the other girl's extreme proximity.

"Um, h-hey Anna, it's okay, I think I can get it myself now."

"No, hang on, I've almost got it. I just have to-" Her fidgeting with the clasp was only intensifying the situation for Elsa, who was completely red now. Another ten seconds or so passed before, as if some local deity had finally took pity on her, the belt buckle came loose.

"There you go," Anna declared triumphantly. "Man, they really should quality control these… things…" Her voice slowly descended into silence as she realized what had just transpired.

"Oh god, Elsa, I'm really sorry! I should've just let you- um, I'm just going to wait for you outside." She hurried out of the dressing room and the store to take a deep breath of fresh mall air.

_What the hell were you thinking, Anna? She looked like she'd just been violated._ Anna couldn't seem to calm her own nerves as she replayed the scene in her head, convinced that she had secured her status as a tactless degenerate. Torn between wanting Elsa to come out right away and wishing she'd never have to face her again, she could only stand and wait. And still, there was another emotion tucked sneakily away in the wrinkles of her guilt, one that she had been subconsciously suppressing ever since she was just centimeters away from the other girl's body – desire.

When Elsa finally appeared through the store entrance with a shopping bag in her hands, Anna searched her expression for a clue to repairing the status quo. Was she angry? Was she traumatized? Finding no answer there, Anna started apologizing again.

"Hey, I really didn't mean to-"

"It's… fine," Elsa cut her off. "I asked you to help, and you did." Then she sighed, and a small smile formed on her lips. "So, did you still want to go to the Rainforest Café?"

Relief hit Anna like a cool breeze. "Um, shit yes."

* * *

**So, I guess just imagine the Scottish accent whenever Merida speaks.**

**Thanks again to everyone who's spent any amount of time reading this, even if it was just the first letter of the first word, which would be "T."**


	6. Kether

Of all of the hours in the day, and there were 24 by Anna's last count, it seemed the only ones that concerned her were those that fell on or after 4 o'clock in the afternoon. That wasn't to say that she didn't value her mornings and early afternoons. On the contrary, she placed a high priority on her violin exercises, as well as time spent talking with friends and researching manatee mating habits, but it was as if they all just constituted one long prelude for her dates with a certain librarian.

Today they were visiting the famed Arendelle Castle ruins just outside the main city, and the idea of spending the entire evening there together with Elsa had gradually monopolized her mental real estate until it was all that she could think about. And so she lay in bed, restlessly tossing her pillow into the air, all too eager for the hours to pass more quickly.

Anna took a hopeful peek at the clock on her wall. 12:42 PM.

_I've always hated that thing._

The clock face stared back at her, unflinching. As Anna lamented the inflexibility of the space-time continuum, a sound vaguely reminiscent of robots copulating started coming from her laptop speakers – it was an incoming Skype call. She stumbled out of her bed and over to the computer to see who it was.

_Oh… it's Kristoff._

Anna felt surprised, even a little guilty, at her own lack of enthusiasm, which she couldn't really seem to justify.

_Why am I being like this? It's Kristoff, everyone's favorite talking banana (batteries not included) – I should be overjoyed to see him again._

She hit the receive button.

"Anna! You alright?" A smiling blonde-haired head appeared on her screen.

"Top of the morning to you, Kristoff!" Anna replied in her patented English accent.

"That is… not what we sound like," Kristoff said dryly. "And what are you on about? It's like 6 in the evening over here."

"I don't care. Now be a dear and put the Queen on – I must have words with her about the new season of The X Factor." Anna was still affecting that terrible accent. Her earlier unease had all but disappeared; what had she been so afraid of?

"God save her from your racism," Kristoff quipped. "You'd think that after spending three years over here, your accent would've improved slightly."

Anna let out a small laugh and returned to using her normal voice. "Sorry, sorry, I'll spare you. So what's up Kris?"

"I just wanted to see your freckles." Then, Kristoff's tone changed to a softer one. "How are you… holding up? You know, with your parents-"

Anna twitched. "Um, Kris, I'd rather not talk about it. Sorry, I just… can't right now."

"Okay, I understand." Kristoff hesitated. "Then... do you think we can talk about us?"

There it was; that one question encapsulated everything that Anna had dreaded about their confrontation. They had left their relationship in an ambiguous state when Anna left England after graduating, and now the consequence of their indecisiveness was rearing its ugly head.

"I don't- what's there to say?" Anna struggled to find what she truly wanted to tell him. "I'm here and… you're there." _No, that's not it._

"I thought we might be able to work it out, you know, long distance. I mean, do you still… love me?" He always found the bluntest way to phrase a question.

"Kristoff…" Anna couldn't say it. The realization that whatever it was they had between them could no longer persist took shape as she peered into his eyes through the illuminated computer screen. It was as if she had kept her feelings for Kristoff sitting atop a tall wooden shelf, and with the impact of her parents' death, they had fallen to the floor where, like glass, they inevitably shattered. Had their relationship always been so fragile? "Kristoff, I'm really sorry. Can't we just…"

"Make sandwiches?" Kristoff finished, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence.

Anna sighed. "Be friends."

"Is it… because there's someone else?"

"No..." Blue eyes flashed through her mind. "I mean, maybe. I mean, Fuckleberry Finn! I don't know, okay? It doesn't matter."

"Maybe? I... I'm sorry, Anna," Kristoff seemed to regret even bringing up the subject. "We don't have to do this right now."

Anna could tell he was clearly hurting from his expression, which had never been subtle.

Just then, the sound of the doorbell rang through Anna's house.

"I have to go Kris. There's someone at the door. Are we… still okay?"

"Is orange the new black?" Kristoff tried to give Anna a reassuring smile. "Be well, and we'll talk later."

"I miss you," Anna said before closing the Skype window.

The doorbell rang a second time.

_I'm coming, Jesus._

She ran down the stairs, nearly tripping over the last step, and let her socks glide the rest of the way over the wooden floors to the front door. When she opened it, a man she had never seen before was standing on the porch. He looked to be in his early 30s, with combed dark brown hair that featured generous, but somehow tasteful, sideburns. He was certainly handsome, Anna thought, and probably pretty rich.

_And is he like constantly being dry cleaned? There isn't a speck of dust on that suit._

Anna was struck by the man's impeccable appearance, and her own yellow, ice cream themed pajamas were starting to look rather lame.

"H-hey… Hello." _Had to get both in there didn't you, Anna?_

The man bowed, a gesture that seemed archaic. "Good afternoon, miss," he said, a refined quality lacing his words. "My name is Hans Gregersen." Then he extended his hand. "And you must be Anna."

Anna returned the handshake. "Um, I don't believe we've met before?"

"No," Hans chuckled. "You'll be forgiven for not recognizing me. I was a close friend of your parents – we worked together."

"Oh, my parents." The warmth drained from Anna's teal eyes.

"I need to sincerely apologize for not being able to attend the funeral," Hans said, looking grave. "I was tied up in affairs overseas, and it was impossible to get away. I've just returned, in fact, to pay my respects."

"I'm sure my parents would've understood, Mr. Gregersen," Anna said quietly.

"Please, just Hans." He had a gentle gaze. "Anna, I can't begin to convey how sorry I am for your loss – for our loss. Peter and Abigail told me so much about you."

"They did?" Anna asked, curious.

"Oh, nothing too compromising I assure you." Hans smiled, a hint of mischief tugging at the corner of his lips. "I'm sure you know more than anyone how much they loved you, but from the way they spoke about their dear Anna when we were out in the field, they must have been proudest parents in the world."

"Th-thank you, Mr. Hans," Anna replied, feeling tears coming on. "That… means a lot to me. Um, do you want to come inside?"

Hans held up a hand. "I would be remiss to decline, but I am afraid there is a meeting I must attend shortly. I just wanted to stop by to tell you that if you needed anything at all, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. I know that this must be a very hard time for you, and I want to provide the support you need to get back on your feet."

"I… don't know what to say." Anna was crying now.

"Say that you'll give me a call sometime? Here's my number." Hans handed her a card that he pulled from his wallet.

_Hans Gregersen, Vice President – The Aldon Group._

After bidding her farewell, the man returned to the limousine waiting for him at the bottom of the driveway. Anna watched the car disappear behind the rows of houses with a renewed desire to see her parents again, to ask them to come back home to share a mug of hot chocolate, or to talk endlessly about the kinds of silverware used in Medieval Corona. She rushed back upstairs to the door to their bedroom and reached out to turn the handle, but something stopped her.

"I-"

_I'm sorry Mom, Dad... I don't think I can do this yet._

She left for the bathroom to wash her face.

* * *

"I'm telling you Elsa, his sideburns had sideburns."

"He sounds like a nice person, this Hans guy," Elsa remarked flatly. She was looking out the window of Anna's car as they drove down Arendelle's main road. The traffic was lighter than usual, but still a chore to slog through, as was often the case in these urban centers.

Anna pouted. Elsa seemed expressly uninterested in hearing about this unexpected guest, even though Hans had been nothing but kind during their brief, emotional encounter.

"He said he'd help me out if I ever needed anything, whatever that means," Anna continued.

"Helping… is good." There was no energy in Elsa's voice.

"Okay, do you have something against this guy?" Anna asked, irritated now. "Because I feel like you've just completely tuned yourself out ever since I brought him up."

"That's not true," Elsa said with a look of genuine worry. "I was listening."

Anna found her frustration quickly evaporating. _God, it's like her face is a natural defense mechanism against anger. _"Then what's up? Don't tell me you're jealous." It was intended as a joke, but as soon as the words left her lips, Anna's nerves tensed in anticipation of Elsa's answer.

"I'm not!" Elsa replied, a little too anxiously. Then, collecting herself, "It's just that… don't you think it's a little weird that this guy who was supposed to be your parents' close friend shows up two weeks after the funeral?"

"Well, he did say he was tied up in something," Anna recalled.

"Yeah, but two weeks, Anna. It just seemed like a long time to me."

"Okay, let's say he's a jerk then," Anna suggested.

"A jerk with excellent sideburns," Elsa agreed. "I know I'm probably being paranoid, but I just… don't want you to get hurt anymore."

Anna was sure her heart had completely melted and was now traveling down her insides in a slippery mess. "Um, I would give you a hug right now, but I have a duty to get us to our date safely, so remind me later that I owe you one." She gave Elsa a quick smile.

Elsa smiled back, then turned to look out the window again, the heat of the afternoon sun falling into her lap.

* * *

The fields surrounding the ruins were largely vacant, and there were only a handful of tourists wandering inside.

"It usually gets busy later in the evening," Elsa commented. "I was thinking we could walk around first, and then set up the picnic blanket outside when it gets a bit darker."

"Sounds fabulous," Anna said, already excited to have Elsa try her homemade avocado cucumber sandwiches. She had spent the previous night shopping for ingredients after they decided to have a picnic outside the castle.

The ruins were surprisingly intact for being so old (since the 7th century, according to Elsa, although it had been built upon several times later on). The walls were immensely tall, much more so than the ones Anna had visited in England, and beyond them lay the remains of what seemed to be an enormous stone mansion that reached heights rivaling even modern skyscrapers.

"Oh my god, Elsa, it's so… big." Anna's vocabulary failed her as she marveled at the architecture. "So what's the story behind this place?"

"Um, I'm not too familiar with the exact history," Elsa admitted. "But they say that one family line ruled this castle for 600 years."

"That's crazy."

"No one really knows how they were able to keep it for that long," the blonde continued as they walked, a little out of breath from the exertion. She was not one for exercise. "All of the old texts and records talk about the family having some kind of weird magic, so I guess those weren't too helpful to historians."

"What? Come on, historians need to get with the magic." Anna was thoroughly enjoying the idea of mysterious wizards ruling over ancient Arendelle. "This is exactly the kind of thing they need to be teaching in schools."

Elsa giggled. "You should write an angry letter to the board of education. Anyway, so, um, this all ended sometime in the 13th century when Queen Idunn was killed in a civil war. People say she was the last queen of Arendelle."

"Mm, that has a really romantic ring to it – The Last Queen of Arendelle."

* * *

By a little past seven in the evening, the sun was well into its downward descent, and the two decided it was a good time to have dinner.

"Ugh, sorry, I really should've kept these in a cooler," Anna said when she took the warm sandwiches out of her tote bag.

"Um, it's fine, really," Elsa reassured her, taking a bite out of one of them. "I think they're quite delicious."

"Really?" Anna looked hopeful. "You're not just saying that."

Elsa shook her head, a chunk of avocado sticking to her bottom lip, and Anna, feeling encouraged, bit into her own sandwich.

_Bleh._

When they were finished eating, Anna decided she needed to lie down. Elsa followed suit, and the both of them stretched themselves out on their backs to stare at the darkening sky.

"My parents used to tell me that I came to them from up there," Anna said, pointing toward an invisible star. "And I believed it until I was like 7 or 8."

"So where do you really come from?" Elsa asked sleepily, perhaps not fully understanding her own question.

"I never found out." Anna laughed softly, and then she was quiet again. There was moisture in her eyes.

As the sun set over the ruins, they were bathed in a strange blend of red, orange, purple and green. There was a dreamlike beauty to the place, like a painting where the colors were all wrong. It had become busier as well; other visitors set up their own blankets all around the field.

Anna turned on her side to face Elsa. "Hey Elsa. You awake?"

Elsa shook herself from her light nap before she, too, turned to face Anna. "Yeah."

"Um, I just wanted to say thank you," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

"Anna…"

"I don't know why you're so nice to me. We hardly know each other, and I'm always making dumb mistakes."

"No, you're not." Elsa spoke quietly. "I, um, really like spending time with you."

"I… really like being with you too."

Anna was suddenly aware of how close they were to each other on the blanket, and of how stunningly beautiful Elsa looked just then, even in the cool, dimming light. Her breath quickened as she gazed into the other girl's azure blue eyes – they had looked so distant and elusive when they first met, but were now luring her in with a certain urgency. She needed to be closer.

"Elsa," Anna was almost whispering now. "Remember that hug I owe you? Can we do that now?"

The darkness hid the deep red flush on Elsa's cheeks. "Um, right now?" she whispered back.

"Yeah." Anna leaned in until she could feel Elsa's breath on her neck. The heat danced off of her burning skin and onto the blonde's. Time had stopped for both of them, neither knowing what to do next.

And then, Anna, her heart beating desperately, closed her eyes and softly pressed her lips against Elsa's.


	7. Faint Dazzlings

If a doctor had told her at that moment that she would be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of her life, she would have believed it. Elsa was frozen solid, unable to move her limbs, as if all of the wiring in her body had been redirected to her fevered mental processes. Half-phrases and made-up words sang in her head like some kind of unscripted musical, and the only thing she could be sure of in that mess was that the redhead had not, in fact, given her a hug at all.

_She kissed me_.

"Elsa?"

She couldn't remember when Anna's lips had left her own, but it hardly mattered. The feeling was still there – warm, weightless, even sweet. It hadn't been forceful or impassioned, like the ones so often shown in films, Elsa thought.

"Elsa, um, I'm sorry… I-I wasn't thinking."

_She kissed me. Why did she… it was so soft… I can't breathe… is this… how I'm going to die?_

"Elsa, please, say something. I'm kind of freaking out over here. Let's just forget this happened, okay? I mean, you know, it's been a long day and we're both kind of exhausted and I just thought you looked really beautiful, heh, so I was like, 'Hey, what would a complete moron do in this situation?' and please say something so I can shut up."

Anna's words were finally beginning to register for Elsa, who gratefully found her lungs working again.

"…forget that it happened," she barely mumbled.

"What? I didn't- sorry… what did you say?" Anna whispered incoherently, trying desperately to mute all of the extraneous noise that could possibly come between them.

Elsa took a deep breath before trying again, her eyes pointed toward Anna's sandals. Each passing second felt like an hour, each hour a year. She was afraid that by the time she could speak again, she'd find her voice cracked with age. "I said that… I don't want to forget that it happened."

Anna's reaction was hard to make out in the darkness, especially since Elsa wasn't looking anywhere helpful. If her gaze hadn't been trained firmly on Anna's feet, she would have seen an expression on the girl's face that fell somewhere between utter shock and poorly restrained elation.

"Then," Anna breathed. "Can we, um, do it again?"

The question sizzled in Elsa's brain like a fried egg. When she finally lifted her eyes to meet Anna's, she could see a burning impatience within them.

"Okay," she nodded meekly.

_Wait_, she thought, but it was no use. That part of her mind had long since relinquished any sort of control over her actions. The sweat collecting on her skin wasn't from self-doubt or fear, but rather pure exhilaration.

"Can you close your eyes?" Anna asked awkwardly. "It'll feel kind of… weird for me if you don't."

Elsa, blushing, did as she asked.

Their second kiss was bolder, deeper. There was no longer any reason to hesitate or feel uneasy – for Anna anyway. Elsa was as still as a statue; her lips parted a small sliver but no more. A sharp electric current sped through her spine when she felt Anna's fingers intertwine with her own.

"S-sorry, I'm not good at this," she apologized when she could speak again.

"Wait, um, was that… your first time?" Anna asked nervously. "Well, first two times I guess."

Elsa nodded again.

"Oh my god, Elsa, you mean I took… I'm so sorry." Anna saw Elsa's blonde eyebrows furrow and quickly clarified herself. "No, no, I'm not sorry about taking your first kiss. Are you kidding? I just… wish I could've made it more exciting for you, like, I don't know, if I saved you from a grizzly bear or something."

"That sounds… horrifying," Elsa said, looking even more concerned than before. "What did I do to that poor bear to make it come after me?"

"You… took his last jar of honey," Anna suggested. "So he's got nothing else to put on his toast, and I don't know anybody that likes dry toast."

"I'll just return it and apologize nicely then." Elsa was trying to escape this scenario of getting mauled by a toast-eating bear.

"Wait, then what about me?" Anna pouted. "I wanted to save my beautiful damsel in distress."

A laugh escaped Elsa's throat. "I think the bear was the only one in distress." Then, nervousness claimed her voice. "Do you, um, really think that… I'm beautiful?"

"What? Elsa. You are the definition of beautiful. I'm actually really jealous."

"I don't think you should be," Elsa murmured, softer than ever. "I think you're a lot, um, prettier."

"You are way too nice to me," Anna cooed. She wrapped her arms around the other girl, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Elsa, I don't want to make you uncomfortable with anything we're doing," she said gently over the blonde's shoulder. "We can, um, take things slowly, or not at all if that's what you want. I just really like you, like a lot, and it's kind of scary because I've never felt this way about… another girl."

Elsa felt a sudden rush of warmth flooding her body, and she wanted to lose herself completely to those words, but worry crawled to the fore of her thoughts. "What about… Kristoff?"

"Kristoff is not a girl," Anna stated plainly.

Elsa made a small noise to signify mild irritation.

_Okay, that's cute_, Anna thought. "I know, I know. Kristoff is… we're not like that. I mean, he's really close to me, but I think that… I just wanted to be really good friends with him, and it took me this long to figure that out. I need to talk to him properly, but let me worry about that."

The exhausted librarian could only respond with a muffled, "Okay." Perhaps she was afraid that if she pulled too hard on their freshly braided feelings, they might come undone.

Their drive back home was mostly quiet. Anna would indulge herself in a glance every now and then at a peacefully sleeping Elsa only to wonder what she had ever done, what gods she had bribed, to deserve contentment like this.

* * *

"You pot-bellied, cross-eyed, feather-bottomed excuse for a duck!" Elsa swore obscenely. The book this time was _Mattimeo_, and the children were glued to their seats, wholly buying into the professional grade voice acting on display. Her readings were always spirited, which was why she was the obvious choice for the library's summer reading program for kids, but today she seemed just a bit livelier than usual. She was starting to attract a larger audience too, with some of the elderly taking posts at nearby tables.

But despite her increased Nielsen ratings, Elsa still felt distracted. The previous night was still fresh on her palate, as unbelievable as it had seemed, and every moment spent apart from Anna only amplified her restlessness.

And apparently she wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"A-Anna," she remarked, trying inadequately to mask her excitement at seeing the redhead waiting for her downstairs at lunchtime. "I wasn't, um, expecting to see you until later."

"Me neither, to be honest," Anna said, a surprised look painted across her face. She was carrying a few books in her hands. "I just came by to study all by my lonesome. Buuut if you insist on helping me out, I guess I could humor you for a bit." Her carefully conceived plot was thin at best. It hardly mattered though, as Elsa willingly followed when Anna dragged her along into one of the private study rooms in the corner of the library.

"_The Unabridged History of Pogs_?" Elsa asked when they were alone. There was only one chair in the tiny room, so they both sat on the floor.

"I just grabbed whatever was on top of my shelf," Anna offhandedly explained, unpacking the lunch she brought with her.

"Yeah, but why do you even own this? And does this mean there's an abridged version I should be aware of?"

"I'll have you know I was the terror of the blacktop back in my heyday," Anna said indignantly. "Everyone in school was afraid of my brass slammer with the glowing green skull."

"Anna-"

"Anyway, I believe we have a study session to get to." Anna smirked as she leaned in to give Elsa a kiss, but she stopped just before their lips touched. "Um, just say if you want me to stop."

Elsa said nothing, and Anna took that as a green light. Fortunately for them, being on the floor meant that the casual passerby wouldn't be able to see them unless they came right up against the door. Anna was gentle with her approach, not wanting to push too hard for fear of overwhelming the other girl. It was Elsa this time, however, that was surprisingly (_and_ _welcomely_, the redhead thought) aggressive. She was putting more force into it, her movements uneven and heated, and Anna moaned lightly in response. They were both completely out of breath by the time they separated again.

"Gosh, Elsa," a bewildered but very satisfied Anna tried to maintain a façade of composure. "What's gotten into you?"

"Sorry, was that too much?" Elsa winced.

Anna giggled. "Never." Then, her smile faltered. Something had caused her to suddenly feel uneasy.

"Anna?" Elsa looked concerned. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing." The redhead was doing a terrible job at hiding her growing anxiety. She felt vulnerable, as if Elsa's affection had exposed a nerve ending.

"Anna, you can tell me anything."

Anna sighed. "I… I don't think I can do this without you." She hesitated before continuing, unsure whether her words were worth the trouble. "I mean, you're the only reason I've been any kind of okay since… a few days ago. You just… I don't know, you're just an amazing and kind person, and the last thing I want is to burden you more than I already have."

"You're not a burden," Elsa said, eyes pleading. "How can you even say that after… everything you've been though?"

"Sorry… I didn't mean to be so… melodramatic." Anna tried to laugh it off. "I've been kind of… all over the place ever since I that Hans guy came by yesterday. I just wanted you to know that, um, I really meant it when I said I was grateful to you. Whenever you're around, I feel like maybe everything's going to be okay."

Elsa reached in to give Anna a hug. "Everything _will_ be okay. I'm… not much, but I'm here for you."

They were the words that she had wanted to say to the grieving girl two weeks ago on the cold linoleum floors of the airport, where, between the frosted apple trees of fleeting human relationships, a seed had been planted.

* * *

Their hour together ended sooner than either of them had wanted (read: never), but they had parted with the promise of being reunited later that afternoon. When Anna returned to her home nestled in the cradle of suburban Arendelle, she felt lighter than she had when she first left that day, the sandbags over her heart becoming mist. It was true what she told Elsa the previous night; as much as she had treasured Kristoff's company, he never left her feeling weightless, never stole her breath with every small movement.

_And who knew she was so good at kissing? _Anna thought with a shiver as she walked upstairs. _That girl is learning suspiciously fast.__  
_

At the top of the staircase stood the door to her parents' bedroom, the last unexplored corner of her own home. The door handle gleamed like a golden egg, the coat of polish not yet spoiled from use.

_I'm okay. Everything will be okay._ She thought of the blonde-haired girl and clasped the knob with both hands.

The door opened easily and without much fanfare, to both Anna's relief and slight disappointment. The room inside was dark, the curtains drawn, and she had to flip the light switch to make anything out. She recognized the bed sheets immediately; dark green and patterned with silver diamonds.

"Like the color of your eyes," her mother had told her once.

Pushing the memory aside, Anna noticed the family pictures sitting on the oak dresser, documenting their many trips around the world – Vienna, Barcelona, Kyoto, and Geneva, among others. She knew the photos by heart; each held a moment in time that she could never revisit, an imperfect facsimile of herself and her parents.

_I still remember when we took this one at the- wait, what the hell?_

Something was off. It was a photo of the three of them on the boardwalk in Barcelona – except there were four of them. There standing next to a grinning 16-year old version of herself was a middle-aged woman with silver hair that Anna had never seen before staring straight at the camera.

_Who the… shit is that?_

* * *

**Sorry. This chapter is a horrible mess, and I'm fighting writer's block. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me so far!**

**Update: Thanks to pensversusswords for helping me out with this chapter. I'm humbled by everyone supporting the story! Next chapter should be born soon(tm).**


	8. Stem

"Okay, I've seen some crazy sh- stuff before, but this," Anna tapped the photograph with her finger. "This is going to give me nightmares for the rest of my life."

She was back at the library three hours earlier than expected (although Elsa certainly wasn't filing any complaints), with a vacation photograph and a decidedly spooked disposition that seemed to chill the water molecules in the air.

Elsa was confused. _Um, what am I supposed to be looking at here?_ Then, after a closer look at the picture, her eyes widened as if a chocolate muffin had suddenly materialized in front of her. _I-is that Anna when she was younger? And in a bikini…_

"…so cute," Elsa uttered unwittingly, only to immediately redden upon realizing that she had accidentally spoken her thoughts aloud.

"Wha-?" Anna was caught off-guard. It hadn't been her intention to show off her teenage self to Elsa, haplessly befreckled as she was, but the unexpectedly favorable review sent Anna's mind spinning into oblivion. "That's not– I mean, thanks but– I wasn't trying to… damn it Elsa, look at this woman!" She mouthed an apology to the nearby visitors who were browsing books with their children.

Elsa shifted her glance toward the silver-haired woman and squinted. "Who's that?"

"That's what I want to know," Anna sighed. "She definitely wasn't there when we took this picture, and there's no way I've missed seeing her all this time."

"How very curious." The blonde was becoming visibly excited by the mystery. Her right hand idly stroked the braid hanging over her shoulder.

"I'm cursed, aren't I?" Anna came to a grave conclusion. "This is my punishment for putting ketchup on my pizza all these years. Elsa, write this down: if I die tomorrow, I would like to donate all of my savings to the Corona Marine Conservation Society."

"Wait, but–"

"The manatees, Elsa, think about the manatees!" She sounded desperate.

"Hang on," Elsa persisted. "This woman… seems kind of familiar. I don't know. Maybe I've seen her on TV or something."

She searched her mind for anything, the outline of a name, the rusted fragments of a memory, that could pinpoint the woman's identity, but all she found was a headache.

"Sorry, I can't think of anything," she resigned, rubbing her forehead. "It's like… trying to swim through muddy water, but I just know that there's something in there."

"Hey," Anna said, concerned for the other girl's well-being. "It's okay – don't stress yourself out over this. And, look, I haven't shown you the other side yet."

She flipped the photograph over to reveal a hand-drawn diagram on the back. It resembled a map of sorts, with triangles and other symbols dotting the spaces between what looked like roads. An X marked a spot beneath one of these triangles, and some letters were scrawled above it, spelling "YGGDRASIL." If Elsa was intrigued before, she was doubly so now. There was something about the way everything was illustrated and laid out that made it seem ancient, like the historical texts found underneath the castle ruins; only the word itself looked like it was written relatively recently.

"It's a treasure map!" Anna excitedly clapped her hands together.

"Well, it's a map," Elsa partially agreed.

"That leads to buried treasure."

"This word here, 'Yggdrasil'–"

"Translates to 'Ygg…onna be rich.'"

"It's a legendary tree from Arendellian mythology," Elsa continued, ignoring Anna. "It was supposed to have held the heavens in its branches. Kids learn about it in elementary school."

"Okay, so we're looking for a giant mythical tree," Anna stated.

"I don't know how that would be possible, but… can we just go back to something you said earlier for a second?" Elsa had something she needed to get off her chest.

"Hm?"

"You put ketchup on your pizza?"

"Don't you start on me as well." Anna's defeated tone suggested that this wasn't her first skirmish on the Heinz front. "I already get enough flack for it from my friends back at home – I mean, back in Corona. Rapunzel's the only one who understands my plight, bless her."

To her surprise, Elsa let out a laugh, as if she, too, could empathize. "Actually, um, I like to put chocolate on mine."

_Ch-chocolate? What the F?!_ Anna had to exercise great restraint to keep herself from speaking those words aloud. "What the F?!" Or perhaps she hadn't. She whispered another apology to the nearby parents, then returned to face Elsa. "Sorry, sorry, I'm not judging you – far from it. It's just… you might be even more of a chocoholic than I am."

"I will take that as a compliment." The blonde allowed herself a rare satisfied smile. "Why don't we get a pizza tonight, and you can try it out?"

"Hm, pizza and a movie? My place?" Anna offered. _Wait, my place? So, it's just going to be me and Elsa in my room… alone… in bed… _The details of this scene were rapidly deviating from what was actually suggested.

"Sounds good to me. Also, I don't think you have to worry too much about being cursed." Elsa flipped the photograph over again and pointed at the silver-haired woman. "It looks like someone Photoshopped her in."

"Huh?" Anna snapped out of her fantasy. "How can you tell?"

"Here, look closely at the edges; the lighting on her doesn't match the lighting in the rest of the picture. It's a pretty convincing edit otherwise." Elsa watched Anna lean in to get a better look, and then, a brilliant idea overcoming her, she ambushed the redhead with a peck on the cheek. "I-I have to go back to w-work." And with that, she quickly scuttled away, leaving a wide-eyed Anna to wonder how long she could survive at her greatly elevated heart rate.

_I'm totally falling for this girl._

* * *

Columns of illuminated dust gently swirled where sunlight entered Anna's bedroom through the windows. It was a silent afternoon, save for the solitary hum of a violin. The piece this time was the Cadenza of Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, which had always reminded her of wandering through a garden maze shrouded in fog.

_Ugh, I have to work on those double stops, _Anna mentally chided herself when she finished playing, briefly recalling the measured severity of her former violin instructor. After thanking Joan for her hard work, she returned her to the case and flopped onto the bed with a heavy sigh. Between a healthy obsession with Elsa and the strange (treasure) map she found in her parents' bedroom, she hardly had a moment to truly digest the events of the past week.

And now Hans Gregersen was calling her cellphone. _When did I give him my number again?_

"Hello?"

"Hi Anna," a rich, kind voice spoke through the phone. "I hope the summer's been treating you well?"

"Um, hi Mr. Hans. I'm doing okay." _Or more than okay_, she thought, remembering the wetness on her cheek from earlier in the library.

"I apologize for reaching out to you by phone. I normally would wait to see you in person, but… well, let me put it this way; how would you like to play for the Arendelle National Symphonic Orchestra?"

"…run that by me again?" Anna wanted Hans to run it by her again.

"How would you like to play for the–"

"What? Really? How? Er, sorry for interrupting."

Hans chuckled. "It's quite alright. I understand the offer is a bit, shall we say, unexpected. As for how, my company makes regular donations to the orchestra so the director and I are very close, and she just notified me of an opening in the violin section not twenty minutes ago."

"But this is..."

"A tremendous opportunity for you," Hans finished. "Of course, you'll have to attend an audition, but I have absolute faith that you will be the right choice for them. Peter always spoke highly of your talents."

"My father…" Anna's voice was tender, ready to splinter at the slightest touch. "I… I'll prepare a piece to audition with as soon as possible."

"Wonderful. I'll pass the word on to the director. Would you allow me to treat you to lunch sometime next week to discuss the details? There was another matter I wanted to talk with you about as well. All good things, don't worry."

"Oh, um, I couldn't possibly…"

"Please, I insist," came the nonchalant reply.

"Then… yes, I'd love to," Anna said. Her stomach was abuzz with anticipation. _We're going to be famous, Joan!_ The Arendelle Orchestra was well-known worldwide, especially in neighboring Corona, for their spirited performances and challenging, tastefully curated programs. Many of the most celebrated conductors had, at some point in their career, conducted for the orchestra.

By the time she got off the phone, all that Anna could think about was relaying the good news to Elsa.

* * *

"I thought we agreed that this Hans guy was a jerk," the blonde said, nonplussed. They were just leaving the library parking lot to head over to Anna's house.

"Um, that's what you have to say to this?" Anna couldn't hide her mild annoyance. Why was anything related to Hans always a point of contention between them?

Elsa immediately recoiled. "You asked for my opinion, and… that's… I'm sorry."

Anna sighed. "No, you're right. I shouldn't just walk into this blind. It's just that it's the freaking Arendelle National Symphonic, you know? They don't accept auditions from just anyone."

Perhaps against her better judgment, Elsa reluctantly conceded any remaining reservations she had. "Anna… if this is really important to you, then... I want to support you."

"R-really? I mean, thanks Elsa!" The redhead's expression suddenly bloomed into one of pure joy. "You can help me pick out a dress to wear for the audition. I'm thinking something that emphasizes my fetching hips."

Elsa giggled, unsure if the judges would consider sexiness as part of their criteria. "Well, you see, um, I was thinking maybe I could actually help you practice."

"What do you mean?"

"I could accompany you on the piano," Elsa stated plainly.

"Wait, what? You play the piano?" Anna asked incredulously.

"Yeah."

"Whoa, how long were you going to keep that a secret?"

"Um, until a few seconds ago."

"Okay, fair enough… is what I would say if I didn't know you better. Seriously, though, that's awesome! You should've told me earlier."

"I didn't mean to keep it from you, I just haven't practiced in a long time,"Elsa admitted, an undercurrent of melancholy coloring her words.

"Well, I would love to hear you play someday." Anna wanted to press further, to divine the meaning behind the distance in Elsa's voice, but decided to hold back. Instead, she asked, "Isn't there a piano at the library?"

"Yeah, it's for recitals and special performances, but maybe they'll let us practice with it if I ask nicely." Elsa had built up an impressive backlog of goodwill with her employers, especially with her volunteering for the summer programs, but she had never once considered asking for a favor until now.

"You would do that?" Anna was filled with more warmth than her heart could contain. "You've officially earned yourself another hug, redeemable at any local participating Anna." Of course, what she really wanted to do was kiss the other girl senseless, but there would be a time and a place for such activities. "Oh, before I forget – have you seen _Spirited Away_?"

Elsa shook her head. "What's that?"

Anna flashed a grin. "I promise you'll like it."

Anna would have been lying if she had said she didn't regret agreeing to doing this at least a little bit. The cashier at the grocery store had bagged the M&Ms with a smile, but perhaps his enthusiasm would have been significantly diminished had he known where those M&Ms would eventually end up.

_There is something very wrong about this, _the redhead thought as she stared down a plain cheese pizza sprinkled with multi-colored chocolate candies. And was the fact that Elsa had spelled out "ANNA" with the M&Ms supposed to make it more or less appetizing?

"Hey, um, Elsa," she started. "If I die from eating this, I want to donate–"

"Corona Marine Conservation Society. Got it. Now no more stalling."

_The devil does exist, and her name begins with the letter E. _"Okay, here goes nothing." Anna took a deep breath and exhaled dramatically. Then, she picked up a slice and bit into it.

Elsa looked on with equal parts fear and impatience; the outcome of this taste test was at that moment the most important thing in the universe to her.

"That," Anna said as she swallowed her first bite. "That was… amazing. Sweet Jurassic Jesus. Ummm, does this mean that there's something wrong with me?"

"Only if there's something wrong with me as well." Elsa could hardly contain her delight; all of those horrified looks from her co-workers over the years combined weren't enough to offset Anna's positive verdict. She would've kissed her right then, if it weren't for the grease.

The pizza was finished in record time, leaving both of them in something of a "food coma," to use the parlance of the times, and they soon found themselves sprawled over the sofa in the living room.

"So full, but so happy," Elsa mumbled uselessly into the pillow.

"Heeey, don't fall asleep yet," Anna slurred as she navigated the Netflix menu with the Playstation 3 controller. She was kind of half-sitting over Elsa's legs. "We still have… movie to watch."

"'Kay."

Fortunately, by the time the title screen came on, both had recovered enough to be seated upright. Anna had acquired a blanket to shield them from the oppressive air-conditioner settings that she insisted on using, and they huddled underneath it together.

This was, naturally, causing other problems for her. While Elsa seemed thoroughly engrossed in the Academy Award winning tale of fantastical beings and lost childhood memories, Anna was finding it increasingly hard to focus on the screen. Elsa's lips were right there, just a few inches away, calling to her like a lighthouse at sea. The last thing she wanted, though, was to deprive the blonde of enjoying one of her favorite films, so she resigned herself to waiting.

When the credits finally started rolling, Elsa sat up and stretched her arms out. "That was a really cute m-mmm–!"

The review was cut short by a messy, impromptu kiss. Her initial shock quickly gave way to a pleasant burning sensation as she felt arms softly close around the back of her neck, and she let herself be pushed down into the couch cushions. A moan that fell somewhere between frustration and desire left her lips when the redhead eventually pulled away.

"S-sorry," a flustered Anna breathed. "I don't know what came over m-mhhmm–"

Revenge was sweet, especially when it involved making out with a gorgeous girl. Elsa welcomed the feeling of Anna's tongue pressing through her lips, intertwining with her own, Anna's hands running through her hair, threatening to undo her braid, the faint smell of chocolate gliding across her senses. The moment was all she could know – perhaps all she ever knew. She wanted to be consumed by Anna, reshaped by her into something more beautiful.

"Anna, I…" The whispers came out in pants. "What's… happening… to me?"

"I don't know," the redhead managed, equally out of breath. "But I think… I'm in love with you."

* * *

**I want to give a big thanks/hug to dontaskidontknow for taking the initiative to translate this into Korean. It kind of... blew my mind. I'll find a suitable way to post links to it for anyone interested. Please don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts! I'm super-receptive to any kind of feedback, positive or negative.**

**This chapter is unedited, but I thought I should let people know somehow that I'm still alive.**

**Update: Thanks again to pensversusswords for her help with this one, and to GhostOfWintersPast for her help on previous chapters.**


	9. Von

_Love?_

"We're only doing this because we love you, snowflake."

The words had followed Elsa like a shadow for years, but they were now wrapped around her neck, strangling her. Suddenly, the floor of the living room cracked open, the shrieks of breaking wood merging dissonantly with a violent rustling sound coming from beneath. Then, before she could realize what was happening, Elsa felt her legs being pulled into the earth by hundreds of knotted branches, and Anna's form quickly became shrouded by leaves. Her vision blackened as she was swallowed further in, but she could still hear the hollow echoes of her father's words.

_"__This is for your own protection. They'll only hurt you out there."_

When she tried opening her mouth to speak back, it was filled with dirt.

_No, take me back! Take me back to Anna… She's… she's different. Please, don't take this away from me._

"Elsa?" An anxious voice jerked her back to reality, to the couch where Anna was still lying atop her pale body. Her eyebrows were furrowed with concern. "Elsa, what wrong? You're… crying."

The branches, her father… they were all gone. Only Anna was left – only Anna who had told her that she was in love with her.

"You… love me?" Elsa sounded as if she didn't really want to hear the answer.

"I-I think so," Anna said. "Are you okay? Um, should I not have said that? I'm sorry- this is moving too fast isn't it? God, leave it to me to screw things up like this." When she tried to get up, she found that she couldn't – Elsa's arms were firmly gripping her back.

"Don't go," a weak voice came through quivering lips. "Please."

Anna was, frankly, a little relieved to be trapped by the blonde's embrace; her fears of overwhelming Elsa might have been distorted out of proportion, but it didn't do much to alleviate her overall worry. Not two minutes ago, they were glued together at the lips, savoring each other's desire, and now Elsa seemed to be shrinking into her own brittle self, like a cracked porcelain doll hiding from the world within a dusty attic cupboard.

"Elsa," Anna pleaded gently. "I'm not going anywhere. Just tell me what's wrong." She placed her hand against a tear-stained cheek, tasting the salt with her fingertips.

_There's nothing wrong._

"There's nothing wrong."

Anna felt her own muscles tighten. There clearly was something wrong, and Elsa was trying to dodge the subject. Between them stood the same distance that she felt when they had first met at the airport. It seemed to be the default setting for the blonde – a sealed envelope addressed to no one but herself. Before Anna could voice a protest, Elsa suddenly spoke again.

"There's nothing wrong… everything feels so… right." She tried to smile. "It's just… when you said that you might… love me, I was… scared. The only other people that have ever said that to me were my parents, and they…"

_"__Where the hell did you go? You know you're not allowed to leave the house without your mother or I."_

She was trembling again, and Anna could almost hear the porcelain fracturing, piece by piece. It was too much.

"It's okay, Elsa," she said softly, hands running through blonde hair. "You don't have to say anything right now. Just know that I'm here, ready to listen whenever you want."

The blonde gave a weak nod and accepted a light kiss on the forehead. Anna shifted herself off of Elsa to lie next to her on the couch, one arm draped over her stomach. For the next few minute-hours (the passage of time was incalculable), the two fell into comfortable silence, a calm descending over them like a blanket of snow.

It would be awhile before Anna noticed that the clock on the wall was trying to tell her something. "Shit! It's almost 11 already." She started shaking Elsa. "Don't you have to feed Olaf?"

"I taught him how to fix himself a sandwich," Elsa replied drowsily.

"C'mon you goof." Anna was poking at the blonde's cheeks now. "I don't want you to leave, but I also don't want to read your cat's obituary tomorrow. Yes, I read the obits sometimes."

"Okay, fine." Elsa sat up on the couch, her hairstyle strangely intact despite Anna's best attempts at sabotaging it.

"Um, you don't have work tomorrow, right?"

The blonde shook her head.

"What would you say to hosting a certain innocent young maiden for the night?" Anna asked coyly.

Elsa considered the request for a moment, trying to decide whether this was a good idea, or a really good idea.

* * *

"The moment you've been waiting for has arrived."

"Anna, who are you talking to?"

"This time on Arendelle Cribs, we're bringing you… Elsa's apartment!" Anna pointed her phone camera towards the kitchen. "So, everyone's dying to know: what's in your fridge?"

"…Um." Unable to conjure a more suitable response, Elsa decided to play along and opened the refrigerator door. "I don't really have much. There's some ice cream in the freezer… and I think this lettuce has gone off."

"Oh, you poor thing. Remind me to take you grocery shopping later. Moving on!" Anna shuffled into the living room, where an orange tabby was sleeping on the couch. "And here we have the servant's quarters…"

_I don't think I'll ever get used to this, _Elsa thought, smiling. She removed a can of cat food from the cupboard and peeled off the lid.

Outside, a lamppost flickered, shivering against a cool night breeze that danced through the empty streets of Arendelle, past the lonely gas station sleeping at the edge of the city, and into the forest, where trees, hidden away from civilization, gambled with leaves as currency.

The next morning, sunlight pried Anna's eyes open, and she was greeted with a familiar view; the solid white walls, the flat-screen television, the small coffee table, and cat hair over just about all of it.

_And it smells like Elsa._

She was ready to give herself in once again to the arms of sleep when she heard the sound of keys at the front door. Elsa came in holding a small brown bag and two coffee cups.

"Morning," she said when she noticed that the redhead had awoken from her death-like slumber.

"Selamat pagi," Anna returned, earning herself a confused look. "Er, good morning."

"I didn't know what you liked." Elsa set the paper bag down on the kitchen counter. "So I just got you a plain bagel with cream cheese. Um, you're not lactose intolerant are you?"

_…how are you so perfect?_ It wasn't quite breakfast-in-bed (_it's __breakfast-in-couch_, Anna thought), but it was enough to make her fall for the blonde all over again.

"So, I've been thinking about that photo," Elsa said while they ate on the couch. "And I think I have an idea where that map leads to."

"Whoa, really?" Anna asked between chews, eyes as wide as the bagel she was eating.

"I-it's only a guess… do you still have the photo with you?"

"Yeah! Hang on, let me get it from my bag."

When Anna returned with the picture, Elsa pointed out something that had been on her mind ever since seeing it for the first time. "I think this lake is near the castle ruins."

"This heart-shaped thing? That's a lake?" Anna tried to remember if they had passed by anything like that on their trip a few days ago.

"The Heart of Arendelle," the blonde nodded. "It makes sense if this road going by it is route 65. We drove by it when we visited, but you can't see it from the road because of this forest." She moved her fingers toward the cluster of triangles drawn between the lake and the road.

A few moments of silence passed before Anna spoke. "Well, that's good enough for me. I'm going today." She had no idea what she was looking for, or why she was looking for it in the first place, but Anna felt sparks run through her blood. Perhaps somewhere in that forest, at the end of the rainbow, she would find her parents alive and waiting for her.

"I'm coming as well," Elsa said resolutely. This was as much her adventure as it was Anna's.

"Naturally," Anna replied with a warm smile. "You're in charge of sweet talking any bears we run into out of eating us." Then she leaned into the blonde's ear and whispered softly, "You're also in charge of kissing me."

Her breath was like a spell, and Elsa shivered under its influence. "That sounds a lot easier than talking to bears." As commanded, she kissed Anna once on the cheek before moving to her lips.

Anna giggled. "You got cream cheese all over me."

"S-sorry," Elsa apologized. She briefly considered licking it off but decided to use a napkin instead. "Um, anyway, I don't know if we should head out today. It's supposed to rain all day."

"Whaaat?" Anna looked outside the window to find the sun that had shone so proudly earlier now covered by ominous-looking clouds. "God fucking… okay. Let's go tomorrow then, I guess." She slumped into the couch with a frown.

"I was thinking we could go to the aquarium today," Elsa suggested. "They have a few new tropical exhibits this year… and a manatee tank."

Anna immediately sat up, as if possessed by a prairie dog. "What, really?!" Then, clearing her throat. "I mean, ahem, if you insist, I suppose there are worse things we could do."

* * *

The Arendelle Aquarium was built fairly recently, and while the variety of sea life it housed was lacking when compared to the aquarium in Corona, its impressive architecture alone was enough to attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each summer. That and its live shows were always a big hit.

"Are you sure you don't want to see the manatee first?" A large ocean sunfish swam in front where Elsa was standing, clearly unnerved to be in its presence. _It's so… ugly._

"Always save the best for last," Anna stated simply as she snapped a picture of the blonde's stare-down with the bizarrely shaped fish.

The tanks were organized by geographical location in a massive room, which was essentially a map of the world when viewed from above. It even allowed for deep-sea creatures on the lower level.

_This is way cooler than back in Corona, _Anna thought with a mixture of envy and wonder. _Oh my god, sea turtles!_

Elsa, meanwhile, was more interested in observing Anna as they walked from one exhibit to the next, making mental sketches of each of her myriad facial expressions and storing them away in a binder labeled "adorable."

Finally, after exhausting the rest of the aquarium, they had reached the manatee tank. Outside, the rain had already started to fall, and as the tank was partially outdoors to simulate the manatee's natural habitat, drops could be seen pelting the surface of the water above. The rotund sea mammal swam up to the glass, presumably interested in the squealing redhead on the other side.

"Elsaaa, it's a manatee!" She could have passed for a five-year-old right then – a very tall five-year-old. "Look, it's saying, 'Hi.'"

"Hi, me?" Elsa pointed at herself. "Hello, um…" She read the sign above the tank. "Marshmallow."

"He says, 'That is what the humans call me. The fools! Your puny minds cannot even begin to fathom my true name.'" Anna Berthold, manatee translator, 22 years-old.

"Why does he have an English accent?" Elsa asked.

"'Silence! I watch a lot of _Downton Abbey_, okay?'" Marshmallow channeled through Anna.

At that, Elsa could no longer hold back the laughter that was threatening to burst through her lungs, and it wasn't long before Anna joined in.

_I wish it could be like this all the time_. This was what both of them were thinking as the manatee stared at them through the glass, oblivious to world outside of its tank.

The rain was still falling hard by the time they left the aquarium, and neither of them felt like going back home just yet, so they took shelter inside Anna's car. Fortunately, the backseat was just large enough for them to lie down in.

"Thanks for today," Anna whispered as she nuzzled her face into Elsa's neck. "It's like… every day I spend with you is the happiest day of my life." _Oh god, that was fucking cheesy. _She was about to confess her love again, properly this time, but the scene from the night before flashed through her mind. It was the first time she had seen the other girl cry, and she remembered that feeling of helplessness, like trying to untie an impossible knot. Anna wanted so desperately to help, but she had idea where to start. "Elsa?"

"Yeah?"

"You're really strong, you know that? We haven't even known each other for that long, and yet you always put me first... I just want... to be able to do the same for you."

Elsa felt her heart rise to the back of her throat. _Oh Anna, you have no idea what you do for me. _She wanted to tell her everything, about winter days spent under bed sheets and behind closed curtains, about summers spent the same way. But more than anything else, she wanted to be able to say one simple four-letter word.

* * *

**This chapter is dedicated to an anonymous reader who sent me some amazingly cute fanart. Thank you so much, whoever you are! I'm updating my profile with some relevant links. It's almost 1 am, and I'm about to pass out from exhaustion (I have a lame schedule, I know), but hopefully this chapter is readable. Love you all!**


	10. Path

"Anna, let's switch for a bit," Elsa called to the girl trudging behind her.

"I'm… good… I've got this…" Anna was horribly out of breath and covered in sweat. They'd been walking for a good half hour in Arendelle's summer heat. No manmade paths ran through this part of the forest as people rarely came by here.

_Shit… why am I… so out of shape? _Anna wondered, forgetting that her weekly exercise regimen consisted of scrolling through Netflix till she passed out. The backpack she was carrying wasn't doing her any favors either, but she had insisted that since it was mostly her stuff in there, she would be the one responsible for it. _We have to be getting close, right?_

She took out her phone to check what the GPS had to say, but as soon as she took her eyes off where she was walking, she managed to trip over a large rock and fell down with a loud yelp.

"Owww." Anna rubbed the arm she used to break her fall. Blood was seeping from a fresh gash. She must've cut it on a branch or something. The forest floor was still damp from yesterday's downpour, and she could feel her shorts becoming soaked.

"Anna!" Elsa, blue eyes filled with worry, rushed over to where the redhead was lying on the ground. "Are you okay? Oh no… your arm."

"It's okay, I… nnngh… just fell," Anna groaned. "Why does pain have to hurt so much?"

"Oh Anna," Elsa said. Upon closer inspection, the cut thankfully didn't seem to be too deep. "Do you have anything in your pack, like Neosporin?"

"Uh, I think so. Check the main compartment."

Elsa unzipped the backpack, peered inside, and discovered within the lost treasures of Babylon; an umbrella, a few bottles of water, a romance novel, an abacus, granola bars, pepper spray, loose underwear, a hammer, a camera, and a ladle, just to name a few things. What the hell was Anna planning to do with all this?

"The first aid stuff should be in a plastic bag," Anna said. "Here, let me get it – it's like an episode of Hoarders in there." She turned around to reach inside the backpack, but Elsa stopped her with a stern glare.

"Just sit still… found it."

_Holy hell… bossy Elsa is relevant to my interests,_ Anna thought, somehow feeling hotter than before. The pain in her arm was fading, replaced pleasantly by a light tingling as Elsa applied disinfectant to her cut with a Q-tip. Maybe it was worth being as coordinated as a beheaded guinea pig just to have Elsa take care of her like this.

"Thanks," Anna said, giving the blonde a kiss on the cheek. "For saving my life."

Elsa flushed at the surprise attack. "Drama queen." She stuck a Band-Aid over the cut.

"No, seriously, I think I saw some vultures circling around," Anna insisted.

"Is that so? In that case, I want a more fitting reward…"

Before Anna could protest, Elsa's lips were on her own. Even in this heat – or perhaps because of it – she was hungry for contact.

"But I'm all sweaty and gross," Anna breathed when she pulled away.

"Don't care."

"Well, I care." Anna straightened her posture. "I need to, er, maintain my aura of sophisticated grace."

Elsa tried to stifle a giggle, but failed, provoking an indignant look from Anna.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." The redhead stuck her tongue out. "Sooo, now that we're out here and fully invested in this… I think it would be a good time to mention that I have no idea where we are."

Question marks danced over Elsa's head.

"My phone's out of batteries," Anna said, offering an awkward grin as an apology. "That means we're pretty much going blind now, so… um, want a granola bar?"

Elsa, lost for an appropriate reaction, quietly accepted a Chewy bar, and the two ate in silence. Sunlight fell through the forest canopy like strands of golden hair.

"Sorry… I have a useless phone," the blonde finally mumbled a while later. She had stubbornly held onto her flip phone long after they had gone out of fashion, never seeing the need for anything fancy. She hardly used the thing anyway.

"What? Oh, no Elsa – it's totally my fault," Anna assured her. "I was an idiot and forgot to charge it before we left."

"But-"

"Nope. The last thing I'm going to do is let you feel bad for my mistakes. Besides, we're still okay." She flashed a sadness-proof smile and gave a thumbs up. "Team Elsanna is invincible!"

Elsa blinked. "Elsanna?"

"Yeah, I just combined our names together. I thought it was kind of neat how they flow into each other… what do you think?" Anna had a hopeful look on her face.

"I guess…"

"C'mon, it's like Brangelina, or Bennifer."

"Okay, then what about… 'Anna' and 'manatee'… Annatee?" Elsa offered.

Anna's eyes widened. "That. Is. Genius. We need to make that a thing like right now."

Elsa was giggling again. They were lost in the woods without so much as a compass to guide them, but somehow it didn't seem to matter so much anymore.

Somewhat reluctantly, the two resumed their journey, the minutes multiplying their fatigue, the lack of direction slowly eroding their moods, but just as they were about to give up and turn around, Elsa noticed something peculiar ahead.

"Hey, do you… see that?"

Anna looked to where the blonde was pointing. Two hundred feet or so in the distance, the trees seemed to be covered in a heavy fog. "Huh? Did we reach the other side already?"

"There's no way." Elsa shook her head. "It would take hours to get through this forest at our pace. I don't know what that is, but it seems… unnatural. Do you think…?"

The redhead nodded. "Only one way to find out."

They continued carefully, the thick air brushing their skin with moisture. As they approached the edge of the fog, Elsa felt the soil beneath her feet take on a strange yet familiar unevenness, as if something was buried just beneath the surface. She jumped slightly as an arm looped through her own.

"Anna?"

Anna was clinging to her as if she were a lifebuoy in the middle of the ocean. "Just k-keep walking." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

So they continued onward as one 4-legged being. As they stepped into the fog, there was a brief moment where nothing was visible, so dense was the mist. Then, it came into view – the outline of an enormous tree, its trunk easily ten times the width of the surrounding pine trees. It was surprisingly short for its size, but its branches, and there must have been hundreds of them, reached well past what seemed physically or biologically possible.

"Oh my god…" Anna spoke in a hushed tone. "Is this a dream?"

Approaching the tree, Elsa could see that the bark was colored a ghostly gray. She placed a hand on the trunk and immediately recoiled; it was ice cold.

"Do you think this that, um, Iggsicle thing?" Anna asked, still attached to Elsa's side.

"You mean Yggdrasil?" Elsa corrected. "It fits the description, but… Yggdrasil isn't real. It's just something from the stories."

"This doesn't look real."

"Right, but… I don't know. I don't know anything anymore." The blonde shivered.

Anna unlatched her arm and started walking around the base of the tree. "Why would my parents have a map to this in their room?"

"Assuming this is what we're looking for." Elsa, for reasons she could no longer rationalize, was still skeptical.

"It has to be." Desperation was creeping into Anna's voice._ They wanted me to find this. This has to be it… but what am I supposed to do now? _ "Christ, how old is this thing anyway? It looks ancient."

They spent nearly an hour trying to decipher the mystery that was this giant tower of wood and leaves, from studying the patterns of the bark to Anna's failed attempt at climbing it, but they came up empty-handed as to why exactly they were making such a fuss about a tree, even obscenely oversized as it was. When they finally decided to return home, Anna snapped a few pictures with her camera before leaving the forest way they came in.

It took a fair bit longer to get out than it did to get in, owing to their compromised sense of direction, but they eventually found their way back to the car. As they drove off, the trees seemed to close up behind them, concealing their footsteps within.

* * *

"Someone's mummified the toilet seat," Anna remarked as she returned to her seat at the table. They were in a diner somewhere along the road between the lake and the city. The trip had taken them well into the late afternoon, and a few granola bars weren't nearly enough to stave off the wrath of hunger scorned.

Elsa made a disgusted face, but quickly recomposed herself when the waitress came around.

"Are we ready to order?" the brown-haired woman chirped. Her nametag read "Belle."

"Uh, yeah," Anna said, picking up her menu. "I'll have a deluxe pancake platter and a chocolate malt."

"Veggie burger… and a chocolate malt for me too." Elsa accepted the mental high-five that Anna tried to give her.

"Alrighty, I'll be right out with your shakes."

"Oh," Anna stopped the waitress. "Can I also get a thing of peanut butter?"

The waitress gave her an odd look and a wary "Sure" before taking their menus and disappearing into the kitchen. When they were alone again, Anna's lips twisted into a mischievous smile.

"And what are you so pleased about, might I ask?" Elsa looked mildly amused.

"Ohhh, just wondering…"

"What?"

"Do you think that we look like we're… together to other people?"

Elsa wasn't expecting this. "Um, probably not. I think we look like friends? Maybe sisters at best."

"Well, what if I leaned over this table and kissed you right now?" Anna's eyes glinted.

"What?!" Elsa nervously looked around the diner to find that there was a nonzero number of people seated at tables nearby, and one family directly across the aisle from them. "Don't do that…"

Silence.

"I'm serious, Anna." Elsa was holding the specials menu up as a shield.

_Fuck, she's too cute, _Anna thought. _I can't do this. _"Fine, fine… I'll just talk dirty to this ketchup bottle."

"Here you guys go," Belle said cheerfully, returning from the kitchen with their milkshakes. With a wink, she set the glasses down on the table. "Enjoy, you two lovebirds."

_Score._

They settled into a comfortable silence as they sipped their drinks through oversized straws, exhausted from walking all afternoon. Anna instinctively pulled out her phone. _Yep, still dead. _Looking back at Elsa, who was currently waging an epic battle with brain freeze, she remembered yesterday, lying in the backseat of her Volvo, waiting out the rain. She liked small spaces; they were good for when she didn't want to move her limbs at all, or for Elsa to just casually mention that she had never known her own birth parents.

It wasn't entirely out of context – she had just been answering Anna's questions about her childhood – but Anna was still unprepared to hear it. And as horrible as it seemed, she felt their bond deepen, as if they were two specks of dust orbiting the same sunspeck in the same pocket universe where shitty things happened to good people.

"Thanks for coming with me today," she said quietly, breaking the silence.

Elsa, half-done with her malt, looked like she was about to fall asleep.

* * *

**First, I want to apologize for the huge delay. I was kind of unhappy with how the last chapter turned out, so I needed to take a bit more time with this one. Who knows if it helped any, though.**

**Second, thanks to Keiko, exDerelict, pensversusswords, dontaskidontknow and of course GhostOfWintersPast for being amazing.**


End file.
